New $100 bill a marriage of history and high-tech

The Bank of Canada combined historical tributes and futuristic technology on Monday in issuing the country's first polymer bank note, a redesigned $100 bill that celebrates the Canadian discovery of insulin and other milestones of medical research while incorporating special new security features to combat counterfeiting.

While the new $100 note retains its front-side portrait of Sir Robert Borden — the Conservative prime minister elected a century ago this year — the back of the bill highlights such scientific achievements as the 1923 insulin breakthrough by University of Toronto researchers Frederick Banting and Charles Best.

Polymer versions of the redesigned $50, $20, $10 and $5 denominations will follow the new $100 bill into circulation over the next two years.

The paperless, plasticized bills "are more secure, more economical, and better for the environment than any we have issued previously," said Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney at an unveiling ceremony in Toronto. "These notes are also potent symbols of our rich heritage.

"We are honoured to issue this note on the site where Banting and Best conducted their groundbreaking research almost a century ago. Many forget that diabetes was once a death sentence. The discovery of insulin changed that."

Banting and research supervisor J.J.R. Macleod were awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in medicine for the insulin achievement; Banting shared his part of the prize money with Best, the research assistant who helped carry out the trail-blazing experiments.

The new bill also references Canadian medical research contributions in the development of the pacemaker and the unravelling of the mysteries of the human genome.

The revamped $100 note was released on Monday to draw attention to World Diabetes Day and to coincide with the 120th anniversary of Banting's birth in Alliston, Ont., on Nov. 14, 1891.

The Ottawa-based central bank, which announced the planned series of polymer bills in June, said in a statement that the new notes include "complex holographic features" set within a transparent section visible from both sides.

Such features "make them difficult to counterfeit but easy to verify," the bank said.

The next note to be circulated is the redesigned $50 bill, which will continue to show Second World War-era Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King on the front. The back will feature an image of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen, an Arctic-capable scientific research vessel.

The $20 bill will feature a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth on the front and an obverse image of the Vimy Memorial in France, commemorating Canada's military heritage.

The $10 bill will have Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, on the front and an illustration celebrating Canada's railway heritage on the back.

And the $5 bill will retain the portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier while celebrating two Canadian innovations in aerospace technology — Canadarm2 and Dextre.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who revealed the initial currency redesigns in June, said the new notes evoke Canada's "spirit of innovation" and serve as "cultural touchstones that reflect and celebrate our Canadian experience."